On June 25, 2007, Our Lady gave the following message:
“Dear children! Also today, with great joy in my heart, I call you to conversion. Little children, do not forget that you are all important in this great plan, which God leads through Medjugorje. God desires to convert the entire world and to call it to salvation and to the way towards Himself, who is the beginning and the end of every being. In a special way, little children, from the depth of my heart, I call you all to open yourselves to this great grace that God gives you through my presence here. I desire to thank each of you for the sacrifices and prayers. I am with you and I bless you all. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
In this message, we can see what is at the heart of Medjugorje, and what Our Lady’s desires are. Our Lady says, “God desires to convert the entire world and to call it to salvation”. Medjugorje is the great intervention of our times by God, calling us to a new life in Him, calling us to a new birth in Christ. The purpose of Our Lady’s apparitions is no less than the conversion of the entire world!
Our Lady also says, not only is there a plan for this goal, but we are all a part of that plan. Many times Our Lady has repeated the invitation to pray that her plans be realized through Medjugorje. We do not know the specifics of that plan, but we certainly know the ways in which she desires to bring that plan to fruition. She asks for a deeper life of prayer, specifically prayer of the heart. Her desire is that prayer be an encounter with God in the intimacy of our hearts through fasting, conversion, Holy Mass, and confession. We can see this plan unfolding in the great fruits that are coming out of Medjugorje. Close to a thousand men have found their vocations to the priesthood through Medjugorje. These “Medjugorje” priests are faithful sons of the Church, who love the Lord, love the Eucharist, love Our Lady, and love the the great mystical traditions of our Church. Cardinal Shonborn of Vienna, Austria, has publicly stated that, were it not for Medjugorje, his seminary would be empty! That is an entire country that is now being changed by the apparitions of Our Lady in Medjugorje! Thousands of prayer groups and adoration chapels have been started as a result of people coming to Medjugorje and then wanting to bring some of that same spirit back to their homes and parishes.
Christ tells us, “You shall know them by their fruits.” (Matt 7:16) Our Lady’s message to Medjugorje makes it clear the fruit she longs to bear through her children in Medjugorje. The countless vocations, conversions, reversions, and changed lives of Medjugorje give witness to the fruitfulness of her message.